


So If You’re Feeling Lonely, Don’t

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2421821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He could play Lloyd Whoshewhatsit all night long if he felt like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So If You’re Feeling Lonely, Don’t

**Author's Note:**

> This is for [](http://kosmickway.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://kosmickway.livejournal.com/)**kosmickway** ’s **‘boys suck’** challenge. It was for any pairing, **‘the guy does something sucktastic and has to make up for it in a clever way’**. Yeah, it was one of those days for both of us. The title is from the Bryan Adams’ song _Please Forgive Me_.

She threw the roses back in his face. Actually, she had her assistant do it so she didn’t even get the satisfaction of seeing the event for herself. She set fire to the card, the note, and the second note. The candy was given to another Agent while the phone calls went unanswered. The first voicemail was erased without listening to it, so was the second, and the third never came. After five days he seemed to have given up and that was fine with her as well.

Erin Strauss hadn't been stood up since college. And even though she was 50 now, the sting of that moment never left her. To feel overlooked, disregarded, and unmemorable was something hard to forget. Though the reasoning behind last week’s fiasco might have been completely different, the feelings were surely the same.

He was the one who made the plans. Thursday night when he came home from Arlington, Texas he called and said he wanted to take her on a date. Sunday evening he would pick her up at seven. They would see a movie and have a late dinner at one of Erin’s favorite little hole in the wall restaurants. They were just going to do what normal people do.

The prospect excited her and he seemed pretty happy about it as well. Whatever this thing was they were doing, they had been doing it for six months. It wasn’t a dirty secret but the time and energy that their jobs took from them did mean it was mostly conducted in bedrooms and hallways when the sun went down. It was time to do something about that.

Erin was quite surprised when Sunday at seven came and went. She checked her phone for texts or voicemail but there were none. Then it was eight, nine, and finally ten. He never showed. He never called or emailed or any of the things you do when something’s wrong and you just can't make it.

Her first reaction was fear…had something happened to him? That kind of behavior wasn’t his M.O. Fear quickly turned into anger, then rage, followed by disappointment, and sadness. She nearly cried.

It had been a long time since she cried. In the end Erin just sucked it up, but she told herself that she was done with him. By Monday morning the apologies were rolling in. He could stick them all were the sun didn’t shine as far as she was concerned. If she felt like looking at his face, she would stick them where the sun didn’t shine for him.

Tonight was Friday; Erin decided she wasn’t working late as she had all week. She stopped for Vietnamese takeout before going home. There it was candles, wine, dinner, and then curling up in bed with a book. It had been too long since Erin read…tonight it would be perfect. She was reading a definitive history on the short reign of Lady Jane Grey. It was quite entertaining.

When she first heard the ‘tap tap’ on her bedroom window, Erin ignored it. The night was windy and the house made all kinds of noises. Then it happened again. She looked up from her book but heard nothing. The third time pissed her off. She put a bookmark in her book, sat it on her bed, and went over to the window. Erin could hardly believe what she was seeing.

David Rossi was standing on her front lawn with a boom box. She knew this scene; it was from that movie her daughters loved but that she couldn’t remember the name of. Lloyd Something-or-Other, he was playing that Lloyd guy. Erin pushed the window open.

“Go home, David.”

“Forgive me.”

“It’s not going to happen.” She replied.

“I messed up. I was supposed to make time for you and something else got in the way. I never intended for that to happen. Please, just give me another chance.”

“I'm sorry I gave you the first one.”

“Erin…”

“Leave me alone.”

She closed the window and went back to her bed. Opening the book, Erin knew it would be hard to concentrate but she would try. He could play Lloyd Whoshewhatsit all night long if he felt like it. It was over and that was probably for the better. Then the music started.

_Please forgive me; I know not what I do_  
Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you  
Don’t deny me, this pain I'm going through  
Please forgive me if I need you like I do  
Please believe me; every word I say is true  
Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you 

This man would not give up easily. But she planned to ignore him. David would turn the music off and eventually just go home. For as long as he thought he could hold out, Erin would hold out longer. It wasn’t until the song was halfway through its second run that she thought about the neighbors.

This was a quiet, family neighborhood. All people usually heard at this hour were crickets and the occasional car driving by. Now they were being assaulted by cheesy Bryan Adams music. Someone was going to call the police. She would end up in some blurb in the local newspaper and never live it down. Sighing, Erin got up from the bed again.

“Turn it off.” She said through clenched teeth when she opened the window.

“Talk to me.”

“No, turn it off or I'm calling the police David.”

“Talk to me.” He repeated.

“Dammit!”

“Five minutes; just give me five minutes. If you want to shut up Bryan Adams it’s as simple as that.”

“You don’t get to make ultimatums.” Erin replied.

“Fine. I’ll just keep playing this and the neighbors will be frustrated with the noise level.”

“You're a son of a bitch.”

“Five minutes, Erin.”

“Fine! Turn it off; I'm coming down.”

Dave hit stop on the CD as Erin disappeared from the window. He didn't know if she was coming down or not but if she didn’t appear in her door he would just turn the music back on. Didn’t she realize that he was embarrassing himself as much as she believed he was embarrassing her? That was something he was willing to risk for a few minutes of her time. Dave didn’t want her to call the police but he was willing to risk that too.

“What do you want?” Erin stepped out to the edge of the porch.

“Erin, it’s cold out here. You're going to catch cold.”

“I don’t care. You have five minutes.”

Dave put the boom box down, leaving it on the lawn. He pulled out of his jacket as he walked up her steps. Erin let him slip it over her shoulders and cover her blue satin pajamas.

“I messed up.” He said.

“You better believe you did.”

“I don’t quite know what to say. So much was going on at the end of the week. I'm so, so sorry but I messed up. It will never happen again.”

“I was waiting for hours.” Erin barely whispered.

“I'm sorry, baby.” He stepped up one more step and took her face in his hands. It was a good sign that she didn’t push him away. “I actually went to Quantico on Sunday morning. By the afternoon I had a headache so I went home to lie down. I knew we were going out later and I wanted to be my best. I took something and fell asleep. When I woke up it was nearly midnight. I guess I was really exhausted.”

“You should've called.”

“At midnight?”

“It would be better than nothing, David.”

“You think you wouldn’t have hung up on me?”

“We’ll never know, will we?”

“That’s not fair, Erin.”

“Life isn’t fair.” She took the jacket off and gave it back. “You’ve had your five minutes…take your radio and go home.”

“I want to make it up to you. I'm only human, I made a big mistake. I never meant to hurt you but I know I did. Let me fix it.”

“How do you think you're going to do that?”

“I'm off for the weekend. We've got 60 hours to make up our minds. All I want is you, Erin. Let me make it up to you.”

“Make me a promise.” Erin said.

“Anything.”

“Don’t you ever blast Bryan Adams again. Promise me, David.”

“I promise.” he held up his fingers like a Boy Scout.

“Now tell me the name of the movie you were recreating.”

“ _Say Anything_.”

“I couldn’t figure it out and it was driving me crazy.” Erin rolled her eyes. “I guess you can come in.”

She turned and walked back into the house. Dave rushed back to the lawn, grabbed the boom box, and then went inside behind her.

***

  



End file.
